Pomatoleios kraussii ( Baird, 1865 )

Ben-Eliahu, M. Nechama & Ten Hove, Harry A., 2011, Serpulidae (Annelida: Polychaeta) from the Suez Canal- From a Lessepsian Migration Perspective (a Monograph) 2848, Zootaxa 2848 (1), pp. 1-147 : 43-44

Pomatoleios kraussii ( Baird, 1865)

Placostegus cariniferus var. Kraussii Baird, 1865: 14 [Type locality: South Africa, Cape of Good Hope ] .

Pomatoleios kraussii: Zibrowius 1979: 133–134 [ France, Toulon Port, biofouling removed from the aircraft carrier “Foch”]; Zenetos et al. 2005: 73, 93 [classified as an “established and invasive alien species” in the Mediterranean].

Eastern Mediterranean

Pomatoleios kraussii: Ben-Eliahu & ten Hove 1992: 35–44 [ Israel, 0–1 m; Lessepsian migrant, first Levant sample; 27.X.1958, Tel Aviv, on gastropod, Stramonita haemastoma ]; Ben-Eliahu & Fiege 1996: 33–38 [ Israel, Suez Canal]; Zibrowius & Bitar 2003: 71 [ Lebanon, noted “crusts”]; Ghobashy & Ghobashy 2005: 90 [citing Belal (2001) that taxon is encrusted on rocks, concrete and metal surfaces in Eastern Harbour Alexandria]; Çinar 2006: 231, fig. 8a–d [first record from Levant coast of Turkey, Iskenderun Harbour, IX.2005, 0.1– 3 m, on mytilid Brachiodontes pharaonis , very abundant]; Bitar et al. 2007: 437 [ Lebanon, 0–10 m, fouling communities].

Suez Canal

Pomatoleios kraussii: Ghobashy et al. 1986: 322 , fig. 5 [Lake Timsah, first report from the Suez Canal]; Ghobashy et al. (1990: 677–686)]; Ben-Eliahu 1991b: 525; Selim 1997b: 88 [for western Lake Timsah, citing Shalla (1985) and Mostafa (1992) (see App. Table 4)]; Shalla & Holt 1999: 133–137 [western Lake Timsah, western Great Bitter Lake, forming aggregations]; Wehe & Fiege 2002: 129 [Suez Canal; list of references]; Emara & Belal 2004: 192–199 [pooled Lake Timsah and Bitter Lakes data]; Ghobashy & Ghobashy 2005: 93 [Lake Timsah; referring to Ghobashy et al. (1986) and noting its absence in the late 1970s, Barbary (1992, see App. Table 4) and Shalla & Holt (1999)]; Abd-Elnaby 2009: 10, 17 [at southern part of Lake Timsah]; Selim 2009: 73 [from literature—no new records].

Gulf of Suez

Pomatoleios kraussii: Ghobashy & Ghobashy 2005: 93 [first report from Suez Bay, citing Belal (2001: 90, see App. Table 4) of encrustation on rocks, concrete and metal surfaces]; Abd-Elnaby 2009: 10.

Red Sea proper-Indo-West-Pacific (excluding citations from Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba already given above)

Pomatoleios crosslandi Pixell, 1913: 85 , pl. 9 figs 10a–d [lacking collar chaetae; Zanzibar, Ras Shangani, Ghwaka; Pillai 1960: 15–17, text-figs 6a–d [western Sri Lanka, intertidal at Beruwala, Hikaduwa, Mount Lavinia, Chilaw and from the Negombo Lagoon].

Spirobranchus maldivensis not Pixell, sensu Wesenberg-Lund 1949: 358 [part] [Gulf of Oman, South Arabian coast, Maldives, Burma (= Myanmar)].

Pomatoleios kraussii: Day 1955: 449 [synonymising P. crosslandi ; Zanzibar, Ras Shangani, Ghwaka; Natal, Cape]; Day 1967: 801, figs 38.3.a–f [for distribution, see Day, 1955]; Mohammad 1971: 309 [Persian (Arabian) Gulf, Kuwait]; ten Hove 1973: 5–6, fig. 34 [Indian Ocean, Madagascar]; Fiege 1992: 1–23 [ Saudi Arabia, Persian (Arabian) Gulf, “even found on heavily oiled rocks / beaches”]; Wehe & Fiege 2002: 129 [Persian (Arabian) Gulf, list of references].

Spirobranchus kraussii: Pillai 2009: 168 , figs 49e–g [no distribution data].

Material examined. Locations adjacent to the Suez Canal, Mediterranean side: Israel: 11 samples, with one, at the most, two, individuals [0–0.3]– [0.1–1]–[0.5-0.75] –[4–6] m. Substrates along Israeli coast: On gastropod Stramonita haemastoma (TAU-MO-16366), legit J. Krystal 27.X.1958, det. M.N. Ben-Eliahu, 4 specs, first record from Israeli coast; on asbestos plates at Electric Corporation, Haifa; on tide-pool snails; under stones; on Stramonita haemastoma gastropods ( TAU-MO –16356; 16370, 16371, 20717), on muricid gastropod; on breakwater, 0.5–0.75 m, and 4–6 m; Tel Aviv, Reading power plant, presumed 0– 2 m.

Suez Canal proper: Lake Timsah, legit, det. S.H. Shalla ca. 1984 Pomatoceros triqueter , redet. H.A. ten Hove Pomatoleios kraussii, ZMA V.Pol. 4999, 5 specs.

Locations adjacent to the Suez Canal, Red Sea side: 0 samples.

Distribution. Widely distributed in the Indo-West-Pacific, from the Cape Province in S. Africa to Hawaii. Lessepsian migrant to the Mediterranean: Suez Canal, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey.

Remarks. The species forms mid-littoral “belts” or “zones” in the Pacific parts of its range [e.g., northern Australia, Straughan (1967a: 224)]. According to Miura & Kajihara (1984), Pomatoleios kraussii prefers sheltered areas. Pillai (1960: 17) reported that the larvae prefer aerated and well-lit water. In the Suez Canal, isolated individuals were reported by S.H. Shalla (1985) and by Ghobashy et al. (1986, 1990) only from the western side of Lake Timsah (most abundant in their “clear-water station”, no. I). By April 1997, Shalla & Holt (1999) reported well-formed intertidal reefs on the western shores of both Lake Timsah and the Great Bitter Lake. As predicted by Shalla & Holt (1999: 135), this same pattern of pioneer settlement of individuals eventually promoting gregarious settlement and developing into reefs has been repeated in the Lessepsian migrant population along the Lebanese coast ( Zibrowius & Bitar 2003). The species is common along the Lebanese coast, locally in large aggregations (H. Zibrowius, pers. comm.). Within the past two years, aggregations have similarly developed in Haifa Bay, Israel, near the Kishon Port (G. Rilov, pers. comm.; Rilov et al., in prep.). Various aspects relating to gregarious settlement are discussed in ten Hove & van den Hurk (1993: 35). Characters distinguishing this species (the solitary form) from two other shallow-water serpulids with triangular tubes are discussed in the section on Spirobranchus tetraceros , below.